One of my favorite day trips from Paris is a visit to Claude Monet’s House and Gardens in Giverny, a small commune in Normandy France. With about a 90 minute journey from Paris to Giverny, you can retrace the footsteps of where one of the most famous impressionist painters lived and created his artwork for almost 40 years.

Read on for why you should take a day trip from Paris during your travels, and why I recommend Giverny in particular as a beautiful Paris day trip. I’m also sharing exactly how to get to Giverny from the heart of Paris (and back again!).

A Paris Day Trip Idea: Visiting Reims in the Champagne Region.

Reims is the largest city in the Champagne wine region, and is the home to multiple Champagne houses and UNESCO world heritage sites, despite serious devastation in both world wars (especially WWI). Reims is also home to the Gothic stunner, the Cathédrale Notre Dame de Reims, a soaring cathedral dating back to the 1200s that served as the site of France's royal coronations for hundreds of years.

We visited two champagne houses as part of our day trip from Paris - learn more about my visit and consider adding a day trip to Reims to your next Paris trip itinerary.

In this slow travel guide to the French Riviera, I’m sharing how to get to the French Riviera and where to go in the South of France, including five of my favorite towns to visit along the Côte d’Azur. I share a bit about transportation options in the South of France, how long to stay to explore the places listed in this guide, and where I recommend you stay when visiting this gorgeous stretch of coastline along the Mediterranean Sea.

Visiting Menton, France: a slow travel guide for the crown jewel of the French Riviera. The Côte d’Azur (also known as the French Riviera) in the South of France is a breathtaking, rocky area of France stretches along the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea.

One place you must not miss when exploring the Côte d’Azur is the beautiful French-meets-Italian town of Menton. I’m sharing with you some of my favorite areas to explore in Menton, along with details about train travel and why this is the perfect place to serve as your “home base” while you are in the South of France.

Provence! The South of France truly is magical. Even though our stay was short, we chose to slow down and explore a few specific places, rather than run around and see as much as we could.  In just 2 ½ days, we made a very brief visit to Marseille, wandered through the city center of Aix-en-Provence, and enjoyed an afternoon visiting the stunning calanques in the port town of Cassis. My husband and I are already talking about when to go back!